Latest news with #FakeItUntilYouMakeIt
Los Angeles Times
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Paul McCartney's photographs and John Waters' birthday: L.A. arts and culture this weekend
This weekend is the annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, when more than 650 authors and speakers gather across seven outdoor stages and 15 indoor venues across USC's University Park campus. Your Essential Arts scribes are on the lineup of the free, two-day event: My colleague Jessica Gelt is chatting with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, while I, Ashley Lee, am moderating a conversation with director and memoirist Jon M. Chu, as well as a Center Theatre Group panel with Lolita Chakrabarti, who penned the stunning stage adaptation of 'Life of Pi,' Larissa FastHorse, the playwright of the farce 'Fake It Until You Make It,' and Robert O'Hara, who is helming his film noir take on 'Hamlet.' For more headlines and happenings beyond book talk, here's your weekend newsletter. Feel free to scroll through it poolside like the Beatles' George Harrison, as photographed in 1964 by Paul McCartney. 'Rearview Mirror: Photographs, December 1963–February 1964'This Gagosian show highlights recently rediscovered photographs taken by McCartney between December 1963 and February 1964, during the emergence of Beatlemania. Shot all over Liverpool, London, Paris and the U.S., the mix of black-and-white and color prints includes self-portraits, intimate views of his bandmates and shots of the fandom that constantly surrounded them. Accompanying the photos is an installation of contemporaneous ephemera, as well as excerpts of cinema verité-style footage of the band recorded by filmmakers Albert and David Maysles, who were granted access to document the group during their first U.S. visit in February 1964. The exhibition, which opens tonight, is on view through June 21. Gagosian, 456 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills. Arts Open San PedroThis weekend-long celebration of the waterfront Arts and Cultural District features more than 100 South Bay artists, open studios, interactive workshops and immersive art installations, with free trolley routes connecting arts lovers to various hotspots. Two main stages will host live music and dance performances, and smaller shows will take over venues throughout the city. Admission to the event — which runs Saturday from noon until 7 p.m., and Sunday from noon until 7 p.m. — is free with online RSVP. 'The Turnaway Play'Lesley Lisa Greene's play is inspired by the Turnaway Study, which followed 1,000 pregnant people over 10 years and reached the first definitive scientific conclusions on the impact on their lives from either having or being denied an abortion. This staged reading — starring Alysia Reiner, Mishal Prada, Jenny Yang and Sasheer Zamata — is followed by a panel discussion with Dr. Diana Greene Foster, lead researcher of the Turnaway Study, Francine Coeytaux, co-founder of Plan C, a public health campaign for abortion pill access by mail in every state, and Xochitl Lopez-Ayala, policy coordinator for Access RJ, which advocates for reproductive justice. The one-night-only fundraiser starts at 7 p.m. Sunday. Lodge Room, 104 N. Ave 56, 2nd Floor, L.A. 'John Waters' Birthday Celebration: The Naked Truth''Humor is always the way to win a war, to terrorize people, to make them laugh, to change their mind, to scare them and to be friendly,' the movie director and raconteur told Jessica Gelt of his birthday tour, which stops at the Wallis this weekend. The event's press release promises 'an endless bag of transgressive, and hetero-non-aggressive twisted tales that will warm the dark little hearts of non-binary brats all over the world.' Remember, Waters says he loves everything he teases 'and maybe that's why I really never am mean, and people embrace even the most crazy s— I say.' Saturday, 7:30 p.m. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. — Ashley Lee FRIDAYBen Folds The erstwhile layer of 'Brick' joins the Pacific Symphony for an evening of impromptu genre-spanning musical exploration.8 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa. Heidi Hahn 'Not Your Woman' is the third solo exhibition of the Brooklyn-based painter's June 6, Michael Kohn Gallery, 1227 N. Highland Ave. Legally Blonde The Musical The hit stage show based on the hit 2001 movie follows the unexpected trajectory of Elle Woods from sorority girl to Harvard May 18. La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd. Mozart & Nielsen Ryan Bancroft conducts Nielsen's Fourth, and Yeol Eum Son performs Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24. 8 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. Phish The eclectic jam band and its ravenous Phishhead fans invade the Bowl for three nights of genre-blending musical improvisation.7 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave. SATURDAYAinadamar Ana María Martínez stars as Margarita Xirgu, the muse of poet Federico García Lorca, in LA Opera's production of Osvaldo Golijov's dramatic, flamenco-inspired score with a libretto by David Henry Hwang about the writer's life and his last days in the Spanish Civil War. Lina González-Granados conducts with Daniela Mack as May 18. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. All of the Above Monologues in the form of first-person narratives, poems, songs and stories anonymously written by women are performed by female-identifying actors.7 p.m. Saturday; 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday. The Actors Company, 916 N. Formosa Ave. Centroamérica The artistic collective Lagartijas Tiradas al Sol reaches beyond preconceived ideas about the region in this play about a Nicaraguan woman fleeing Daniel Ortega's dictatorship. Presented in Spanish with English supertitles.8 p.m. UCLA Nimoy Theater, 262 Westwood Blvd. Dark Library: Paris 1925 Visit Gertrude Stein's apartment and mingle with such notable expats as Ernest Hemingway, Josephine Baker, F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, via this intersection of multisensory mediums, including cocktails, dance and movement, and experiential design.7 and 9 p.m. Friday-Saturday. New Musicals Inc., 5628 Vineland Ave., North Hollywood. Junwen Liang The pianist peforms his 'Sonata Extravaganza' featuring Mozart's Sonata No. 10, Ravel's Sonatine and Prokofiev's Sonata No. 8.8 p.m. Boston Court, 70 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena. Los Angeles Times Festival of Books More than 650 authors and speakers, including 'Wicked' director Jon M. Chu, comedian Chelsea Handler, exoneree Amanda Knox, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen, politician Stacey Abrams and poet Amanda Gorman, gather across seven outdoor stages and 15 indoor day Saturday-Sunday. USC, University Park campus. Tasty Little Rabbit An 1890s love triangle between poet Sebastian Melmoth, photographer Wilhelm Von Gloeden and an 18-year-old Sicilian boy is the subject of this play written by Tom Jacobson and directed by George June 6, Moving Arts, 3191 Casitas Ave. 30th Anniversary Concert Richard Carpenter and Renee Elise Goldsberry, the Tony Award-winning star of 'Hamilton,' will open the show with 'Rainy Days and Mondays' to honor the Carpenter Center's three decades.8 p.m. Saturday. Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center, 6200 E. Atherton St., Long Beach. Verdi Chorus In the program 'Bella Bellini,' the vocal group performs selections from operas by Vincenzo Bellini and Giuseppe Verdi.7:30 p.m. Saturday; 4 p.m Sunday. First Presbyterian Church, 1220 2nd St., Santa Monica. SUNDAYAmy Adler: Nice Girl The exhibition features an installation of 20 new oil pastel works that critique the social media mirror selfie through portraits of anonymous young women.11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday and Wednesday-Saturday, through Sept. 7. Orange County Museum of Art, 3333 Avenue of the Arts, Costa Mesa. The Glass Menagerie Carolyn Ratteray directs Tennessee Williams' shattering classic about a fading Southern belle, her two children and the impending arrival of a gentleman June 2. Antaeus Theatre Company, Kiki & David Gindler Performing Arts Center, 110 E. Broadway, Glendale. The Millennium Tour Trey Songz, Omarion and Bow Wow headline this collection of hip-hop and R&B stars.7 p.m. Kia Forum, 3900 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood. The Staircase A mother and son spin Hawaiian folk tales while playing cards to avoid their own stories in a play by Noa Gardner, directed by Gaye Taylor May 18. South Coast Repertory, Emmes/Benson Theatre Center, 655 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa. The stagecraft at the heart of the new Broadway show 'Stranger Things: The First Shadow' is examined by Ashley Lee in a Q&A concluding that the most difficult illusion is creating the franchise's signature nosebleeds. Visual effects designers Jamie Harrison and Chris Fisher, who also worked on 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,' reveal the behind-the-scenes strategies that any superfan of either franchise will be glad to know about. Speaking of 'Stranger Things: The First Shadow,' Times theater critic Charles McNulty was in New York to catch its Broadway debut — and warns viewers to enter the Marquis Theatre at their own risk. If Disney shows make the art form veer into theme park territory, McNulty notes, the signature Netflix sci-fi franchise sets it squarely in the violently frenetic world of Dungeons & Dragons. While the visual effects are lavish and stunning, the script feels lacking, McNulty writes. Read about why, here. Ashley also sat down with playwright a.k. payne between rehearsals of 'Furlough's Paradise,' which is at Geffen Playhouse through May 18. The show is about the relationship between two estranged cousins — with vastly divergent lives — as they reunite in their hometown for a funeral. In a wide-ranging conversation, payne discusses what inspired the show, what the characters represent and what their hopes are for the audience's experience. The photographer John Humble — known for his incisive images of L.A.'s vast urban landscape — has died. He was 81. After studying at the University of Maryland, Humble was drafted during the Vietnam War, spending more than a year overseas as a medic. He landed a job as a photojournalist at the Washington Post upon his return, but ultimately left to perfect his craft at the San Francisco Art Institute. In 1974, Humble moved to Los Angeles. He never meant to stay, but ended up putting down roots for the rest of his life — gaining a reputation as one of the city's most clear-eyed viewers and honest visual champions. The French luxury fashion house, Chanel, in collaboration with CalArts, announced the creation of the Chanel Center for Artists and Technology, made with support from Chanel's Culture Fund. The center will give students on campus unfettered access to crucial upcoming technology, including cutting-edge AI software and hardware; machine learning; and digital imaging tools. The resources will be made available in all disciplines, allowing for collaboration and innovation in dance, art, film, music, animation and theater. The center will also welcome visiting artists and fellows, many of whom have also received support from the brand's Culture Fund. Expected guests include Jacolby Satterwhite, Arthur Jafa, Cao Fei and William Kentridge. The 60th Annual Pasadena Showcase House of Design is now open, and welcomes guests for tours through May 18. As one of the country's longest running and most expansive home and garden tours, this year's Showcase House features the renovated Bauer Estate & Gardens. The 15,000-square-foot Monterey colonial estate was built in 1928 and features five acres of botanical gardens, which guests can walk through while taking in the latest in interior and landscape design trends. The program's opening night gala raised more than $200,000 for area music programs. — Jessica Gelt Cynthia Erivo's cover of Prince's 'Purple Rain' with the Los Angeles Philharmonic was my Coachella highlight.
Los Angeles Times
07-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Review: Larissa FastHorse's ‘Fake It Until You Make It' has its historic premiere at the Taper
Timing is everything in comedy, and one wonders how much funnier Larissa FastHorse's 'Fake It Until You Make It' might have been had it been produced at the Mark Taper Forum in 2023 when it was originally scheduled. The world has shifted off its axis since that relatively halcyon time when identity politics, the subject of FastHorse's farce, could be debated, mocked, ranted over and defended without fear of governmental reprisal. An emboldened Donald Trump has returned to the White House on a vendetta against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, setting in motion a new version of the Red Scare, except the target color scheme now is anything nonwhite. As nonprofit agencies across the land are scrambling to figure out how to respond to anti-DEI policies and threats from the new administration, the delayed premiere of 'Fake It Until You Make It' presents a satirical war between two rival nonprofit groups working on behalf of Native American causes. Good intentions are no guarantee of good behavior. In 'The Thanksgiving Play,' FastHorse skewered with merciless hilarity white woke hypocrisy. Here, she examines the way virtue signaling and moral one-upmanship have warped the nonprofit field, turning public service into a competitive sport and corrupting even those who have dedicated themselves to lifting up their own communities. 'Fake It Until You Make It' doesn't anticipate the dire situation unfolding in 2025. But it does, helpfully, move beyond the rigid partisan categories that have clouded our thinking and made shared enlightenment seem completely out of reach. The cleverly constructed play, a co-production with Washington, D.C.'s Arena Stage, is freighted with historical significance of its own. It's the first time a Native American playwright has been featured on the Mark Taper Forum's marquee stage — and it almost didn't happen. (In a candid interview with Times reporter Ashley Lee, FastHorse revealed that had Arena Stage not stepped in after CTG faltered, there 'would have been a lot of hurt and unhealed pain, which would have made this process difficult.') When the play begins, River (Julie Bowen of 'Modern Family' fame), a white woman who runs Indigenous Nations Soaring, has taken out a restraining order to prevent anyone from messing with her cat. Wynona (Tonantzin Carmelo), a proudly identified Native woman who leads N.O.B.U.S.H., an organization seeking the removal of invasive plants, is the main target of River's ire. The two women work in the same office complex and are bitter enemies. Wynona has designs on River's cat, and River keeps planting a botanical species on workplace grounds that Wynona is on a fanatical mission to wipe out. Battle lines are drawn and immediately transgressed in a play that takes farce out of the bedroom and into administrative corridors and cubicles. The doors that slam, as farcical doors are built to do, open to work spaces, where a good deal of time is spent scheming and counter-scheming. Mistaken identity is a central conceit of the genre, and FastHorse takes this charade to another intellectual level. While reveling in the silly masquerade, 'Fake It Until You Make It' interrogates the meaning of racial identity and authenticity, leaving no dogmatic position unscathed by irony. FastHorse's nonprofit universe includes a range of characters of varied ideological commitments and tactical approaches. Theo (Noah Bean), Wynona's partner, is an eco-activist who returns from clearing thousands of acres of English ivy from California wilderness to find himself conscripted into Wynona's war against River. Theo, who's white, wants to marry Wynona, but her conscience won't let her start a family with a non-Native. She dangles, however, the reward of being his common-law wife if he pretends to be a Native applicant for a job at River's organization. She wants him to tank a big grant application to better her chances of being selected. Theo has misgivings, but his passion for Wynona overrides his scruples. Two other nonprofit leaders have their headquarters in this suite of offices. Grace (Dakota Ray Hebert), an advocate for race-shifting, has launched an organization to help people transition their identities 'ethically and safely.' A Native woman eager to try on other selves, she provides costume designer E.B. Brooks the opportunity to create a pageant of flamboyant international garb, designed to lay unmistakable claim to new cultural identities. Krys (Brandon Delsid), who identifies as gender-fluid, heads an organization that advocates for the Two Spirit community. When Mark (Eric Stanton Betts), the native applicant Theo impersonates, shows up at the office to apologize for missing the interview with River, Krys runs interference for Wynona. But Mark, a fellow Two Spirit soul with a lot of sex appeal, erotically complicates Krys' loyalties. The farcical math is elegantly worked out by FastHorse, who maps out the ensuing chaos with elan. The production, directed by Michael John Garcés, quickly reaches cruising speed on a vivid set by Sara Ryung Clement that is full of Native color and craft. But much as I admired the playwright's ingenious examination of identity politics through the looking glass of farce, I never quite succumbed to the comedy's demented logic. My resistance wasn't just a function of the radically changed political landscape that has made DEI concerns no laughing matter. There's a cynicism at the heart of 'Fake It Until You Make It' that distances us from the characters. FastHorse, to her credit, doesn't write schematic plays. She refuses to treat her Native protagonist as a hero. But in making Wynona so belligerently flawed and River so narcissistically self-serving, FastHorse diminishes our concern for the outcome of their battle. A pox on both their houses, I found myself indifferently concluding. Grace, who refuses to be confined by demographic category, is in many ways the most outrageously polemical of the characters. Yet she gains the upper hand in the debate over identity politics with a perspective that is as compassionate and cogent as it is controversial. Unfortunately, the way she's deployed as a sight gag makes it hard to take her seriously when it counts. Perhaps the real hero of the play is the playwright, who panders to no quarter. But a touch more emotional reasonableness in Wynona might have paid theatrical dividends. In farce, we expect to see characters, overwhelmed by situations of their own making, behaving at their clumsy worst. But we need to care about them sufficiently to stay attentive, and for that to happen we must believe that they are capable of self-awareness, if not growth. Farce is a notoriously cruel genre, as critic Eric Bentley has noted. It allows us, as he writes in 'The Life of the Drama,' to work out our 'psychic violence' through laughter. We know the brutality isn't really happening, so we go along with the vicious high jinks. But a corner must be preserved for affection, and FastHorse spares not even River's cat from unnatural abuse. Krys and Mark arrive at a moment of tender connection. The panting lust that allows them to override the lies that brought them together isn't enough farcical compensation, but Delsid and Betts have a sweet, daffy chemistry. Bowen's River and Carmelo's Wynona play their characters' shortcomings to the hilt. There's no danger of a saccharine ending. Amy Brenneman takes over the role from a fearlessly funny Bowen when 'Fake It' moves to Arena Stage in April. Carmelo, who could incorporate a moment or two of introspective reflection in her uncompromisingly ferocious portrayal, will travel with the rest of the cast to Washington, D.C. Bean's Tom bristles at the way Wynona plays the race card. ('You can't just say 'blood money' to win every argument,' he tells her.) But he's carnal putty in her hands, leaving the impression of a good guy with a big id and no spine. The play ends with a joke that made me wonder if Center Theatre Group has it in for cats. (I had hoped to expunge the memory of the dramatized feline murder that took place in 'Our Dear Dead Drug Lord' at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.) We could all use a good laugh right now in these disturbing political times, but I left the Taper with a wince.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Wildfires couldn't stop this playwright from opening her new production: 'This is a beautiful way for us to come together'
For playwright Larissa FastHorse, staging her newest play, Fake It Until You Make It, has not been without its challenges. The Sicangu Lakota writer, who is mounting the production in Los Angeles through March 9 and then in Washington, D.C., had to contend with tragedy in the form of devastating wildfires that consumed parts of L.A. 'There were people here on our production team and on staff and our cast that were evacuated. Some lost their homes, some didn't lose their homes [but] their family lost their home,' FastHorse told Yahoo Entertainment. 'It's been a stressful time to do this.' See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. FastHorse, whose 2023 production of The Thanksgiving Play marked the first Broadway play by a female Native American playwright, looked to her team, including director Michael John Garcés, before making her next move. 'I hate to sound like that person, but theater can be really healing and especially doing a comedy like this,' said FastHorse, who is also the first Native playwright to be staged at Los Angeles's Mark Taper Forum. 'So we took one full day off [during the] wildfires — the day after they exploded and everything was just so scary and uncertain here in L.A.' After talking to her cast and crew — they decided to move forward, calling the theater a 'safe space' and a 'happy place.' 'They said … 'These fires are not going to last forever but this play can have really long-term effects, and we want to be a part of it,' so that's what we did,' she said. The play began previews at the Taper on Jan. 29 and officially opens Feb. 5. Julie Bowen stars as River, a white woman running the Native American-focused nonprofit Indigenous Nations Soaring, who has a rivalry with Native nonprofit leader Wynona (Tongva actress Tonantzin Carmelo), who runs N.O.B.U.S.H., an organization that combats the invasive butterfly bush plant. The satirical farce takes on identity conflicts and the lengths people will go to 'shift' their race. '[River and Wynona's] escalating rivalry ensnares colleagues and bystanders, leading to the unraveling of secrets that highlight the absurdities of ambition and authenticity,' the play's description reads. What could otherwise be seen as weighty and touchy is played for laughs — on purpose — to offer an accessible and nuanced way into these often sensitive topics. 'We're thinking a lot about who's laughing at what when. Is that OK? Is it not OK? My plays ask a lot more questions than they answer, but we also make sure it's the right questions,' FastHorse said, 'and it's a little trickier in something as broad as a farce.' The play uses humor to engage conversations like the effect so-called 'Pretendians' (non-Native people who claim Indigenous ancestry) have on Indigenous people and resources, as well as people who don't feel entirely comfortable in their own race. FastHorse also takes the opportunity through her work and collaboration with Garcés to spotlight Indigenous artists in the cast, crew and overall set design, which works to further 'Indigenize' the theater space. After the play's run in Los Angeles, Fake It Until You Make It will be staged at D.C.'s Arena Stage from April 3-May 4, when Amy Brenneman will take over for Bowen. The rest of the cast and director remain unchanged. While FastHorse hopes audiences gain new insight into an Indigenous perspective, she hopes her play, first and foremost, serves as a reminder that going to the theater can be enjoyable. 'I honestly always want people to walk away and say, 'Why don't we go to the theater more? This is so much fun,'' she said. 'We've been through so much here in Los Angeles specifically, but in our country, there's a lot going on and so this is a beautiful way for us to come together no matter what your previous background is, no matter what your political affiliation is, no matter any of your previous beliefs before you walk in this theater.' She added, 'I want you to be able to come in and have a good time and have fun and say, 'Gosh, we've got to do this more often.''
Los Angeles Times
29-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
At last, Larissa FastHorse is the first Native American playwright at Mark Taper Forum
'Do you think it's funnier if I do the spin to my left or my right?' asked Julie Bowen. The cast of 'Fake It Until You Make It' is rehearsing a complicated, climactic sequence, finalizing when exactly to slam each door and how high Tonantzin Carmelo should toss a prop for Eric Stanton Betts to catch it. The farcical comedy, which begins performances Wednesday at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, is set in a co-working office building for nonprofit organizations serving Native American populations. Think 'Noises Off' but with bows and arrows, beaded curtains and big questions about who gets to rightfully claim a racial, national or cultural identity. Larissa FastHorse applauds the actors with glee. It's a scene the playwright has waited some time to rehearse: This world-premiere run of the Center Theatre Group commission was supposed to play the Taper in 2023 but was canceled during the venue's programming pause. Running through March 9, the co-production — also featuring Noah Bean, Brandon Delsid and Dakota Ray Hebert, and directed by Michael John Garcés — then will play Washington, D.C's Arena Stage (April 3-May 4), with Amy Brenneman replacing Bowen. FastHorse tells The Times about opening 'Fake It' at the Taper after all, questioning 'pretendians' with satire and making commercially viable Native theater. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. How do you feel about finally opening this show? It's been pretty incredible. We got the cancellation news when we were two weeks out from starting rehearsal. I got a lot of attention for it, but what was so heartbreaking and upsetting about it that kind of got lost in everything was that Michael lost his production. I'm the playwright, I still have the play, I can do it somewhere else. I immediately sent it out to 20 other artistic directors, and with budgets and things, there's no guarantee any of them would bring him in as an out-of-town director. What changed everything was that [Arena Stage artistic director] Hana S. Sharif signed on immediately, with Michael directing, with a co-production option. That put us in a place of power and choice: We could walk away from CTG and just do it at Arena. It gave us the opportunity to say, actually, it matters to us to do it in our hometown, it was created for that space, it would be the first piece of theater at the Taper by a Native playwright. I've known [CTG artistic director] Snehal [Desai] and [managing director] Meghan [Pressman] for a long time, and there were a lot of painful Zooms back and forth, some miscommunications that happened. We talked about it and worked through it, and because I know them well, we were able to kind of fight it out and get there. If [Arena hadn't signed on], I think there still would have been a lot of hurt and unhealed pain, which would have made this process difficult. Now, we're so happy to be here. We both love Snehal and wanted to be a part of his first season. Knowing it was our choice to be a part of it made a difference. This play explores the world of nonprofit organizations. Where did the idea come from? I was in the middle of fundraising for the community project Michael and I are doing in South Dakota, and I got interested in who gets funded, who doesn't and why. The amount of times white-led organizations just suddenly get dumped millions of dollars on them is incredible, because there's an assumption that they can scale up. But can a Native American-led organization — who is in the community, understands this community and has been doing incredible work as a nonprofit for years — scale up? Will they be responsible? Can they handle it? That difference in trust, maybe even if doing the exact same work, was really eye-opening to me and something we've experienced firsthand. [In this play,] we have a white-led organization that actually does good work, because there are tons that do. And honestly, I wanted to make sure my main Native woman character wasn't doing the most amazing work because I didn't want her to be this saint just because she's Native American. I wanted her to be flawed. The play also discusses the concept of race-shifting. Why did you want to address that here? In my community, we call them 'pretendians.' This country has a long history of folks wanting to be Native, and there are people in academia and in organizations who are benefiting pretty greatly from a created Indigenous ancestry that isn't there. And I was surprised: I looked around Reddit threads and chat rooms and found people of color who shift between communities of color — I didn't even know that was an option! — or, of course, shift into whiteness. You don't want to be who you are, and you feel more powerful as someone else. There are real advocates for race-shifting — as in, it's OK to do it, but do it ethically, don't take resources from someone else. So then, does it really matter if they're walking around and pretending to be somebody else? I don't want to just make fun of these people; I wanted a way to talk about it, and where the conversation around race and identity is heading, that hadn't been done yet. And Michael, whom I've collaborated with for 13 years, wanted to direct a farce. He's like, 'Your comedy and your satire already lean toward farce. I want to see what you'd do if you were to just let loose and go for it.' As in your other work, you ask big questions in this play but don't share any answers or definitive opinions. Why not? That's too easy. I totally don't need people to agree with me, because how useful is that in the world? If theater is both an entertainment and a tool, which are equally important in my mind, it's much more valuable to make people think for themselves and then articulate those thoughts than to just agree or disagree with me. That's exciting, that's the best theater can do. I hate going to the theater and feeling like I'm being punished, or like they didn't want me there. I love audiences, and I want to reward them for coming, which can be a challenge — it's expensive, it takes time and, here, they've got to get to freaking downtown L.A.! So whatever place you occupy on the political or moral spectrum, and however you end up feeling about these topics, I hope you laughed and had a good time. You've previously said 'The Thanksgiving Play' is a piece of Native theater with mostly white actors, which helps to make it more producible in the white American theater. Did you think about that for 'Fake It' and other works-in-progress? Honestly, I do have to think about that now. Because of the privileged position I'm in, people are going to produce my plays. So I think about the economics and math that these theaters are doing: What's the size of the house? How many Native actors can I get? Are there a couple roles that the Julie Bowens and Amy Brennemans can come in and sell some more tickets? The reality is, selling all these seats is still really hard, and it costs so much money to fill this place. So yeah, I think about putting in a character who can sell some tickets where most of our Native artists just haven't been given opportunities to be that person yet. CTG has done an incredible job of incorporating Native artists into all the departments, hiring local Native artists and sourcing from Native vendors whenever they can. Even down to the tote bags the characters wear, they're all from Native organizations and artists. And our set features the work of 40 or so Native artists; there are two prominent mural pieces from River Garza [who is Tongva/Mexican], and major work by Marlena Myles [who is Spirit Lake Dakota/Mohegan/Muscogee]. Jesse Calderon [who is Chumash/Tongva] created the floor's basket weave pattern, and all the frames inside these offices are by Native artists. What's really cool is that there'll be information and merchandise from all these artists in the lobby, so audiences can learn more about them. You're opening your first farce. What tip would you give to another playwright trying out the form? You have to think about humans. Humans do everything in theater. When I make a change, it's just words to me, but that's a physical reality to the people onstage and backstage who make it happen. What's the cost to their bodies, their safety, their stress levels? Someone in wardrobe was talking about being in a show where they were crying because they couldn't make a quick change. I told them, and folks in every department, that if a scene transition or something is becoming borderline dangerous, I can always just write more words — that's easy. These scenes go at a fast pace, but it can be a humane pace. There's no reason for people to suffer or get hurt or get a career-ending injury over this.
